CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Browns have hired former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski as their 14th fulltime head coach, a source told The Plain Dealer tonight.

He's also the sixth fulltime head coach since the Browns returned in 1999.

Chudzinski, 44, who was coordinator of the Carolina Panthers, interviewed with the Browns Wednesday in Cleveland. He's expected to bring former San Diego Chargers coach Norv Turner as coordinator, a source said. The two are close.

Seems like a good hire to me. He has been the OC for the Panthers since Cam Newton got there and helped develop him. Rumor right now is that Norv Turner will become the OC and John Pagano will become the DC. Both are from the current Chargers organization.

I think the biggest question is who will be the QB. Is Brandon Weeden the guy to be running a vertical offense? He certainly has the arm strength, but is there someone else in the draft that might be better suited? (Bray, Wilson, Nassib?) Could they trade for Phillip Rivers? Who knows, but I do hope they bring in some competition, because Colt McCoy and Thad aren't going to be the future of that franchise.

The Browns have a ton of money to spend in free agency next year, 40+ million last I heard, and I think they will be able to pick up some good players. It will be interesting to watch.

Some more stuff on Chud if anyone is interested. He is a lifelong Browns fan and Ohio native, so it's his dream job. I really hope he works out.

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CLEVELAND - The Browns have always been a part of Rob Chudzinski's life. Now, he's the man in charge.

Chudzinski, who spent the past two seasons as Carolina's offensive co-ordinator, was introduced as the club's sixth fulltime coach on Friday, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 44-year-old who as a kid pretended he played tight end for the Browns during games in his backyard in Toledo, Ohio.

Chudzinski will inherit a young roster he'll try to develop into a contender with the Browns, who have lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and made the playoffs only once since 1999.

Chudzinski previously worked as an assistant with the Browns, most recently as their offensive co-ordinator in 2008. Although he has no previous head coaching experience, owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner are confident they hired the best possible candidate available to turn their club into a consistent winner.

"I would not miss the chance for the world." Chudzinski said. "We're going to win here."

The Browns hauled their search to find the 14th coach in franchise history to Arizona and back. They talked to high-profile college coaches, NFL assistants and a fired pro coach who took a team to a Super Bowl.

None of them was hired.

Instead, Chudzinski became their pick.

"I believe we came back with the best coach for the Cleveland Browns," said Haslam, who flew to Charlotte, N.C. on Thursday night with Banner to offer Chudzinski the job. "He is one of the brightest young coaches in the business."

Chudzinski's first move will be to hire his staff. He will immediately meet with the assistants currently working for the Browns. Chudzinski would not comment on any possible candidates to become his co-ordinators. There are reports he is considering former San Diego coach Norv Turner to run his offence. Chudzinski worked for Turner with the Chargers.

"I have a plan in place," he said. "We're going to get a great staff. We have a young group of players. This is going to be about the process. Lots of people are worried about the end result, but this is going to be the right process to get us where we want to be."

Now that they've hired their coach, Haslam and Banner will focus on finding a new general manager to help pick players for Chudzinski, who will be involved in finding the GM.

The new coach — "Chud," as he's known to players and friends — worked with the Browns' tight ends in 2004 and was their offensive co-ordinator in 2007, when the team won 10 games — their most since an expansion rebirth in 1999. He was released when Romeo Crennel was fired in 2008.

Chudzinski said when he walked off the field after the final game that season he knew he would be coming back to Cleveland "someday, somehow."

I think the biggest question is who will be the QB. Is Brandon Weeden the guy to be running a vertical offense? He certainly has the arm strength, but is there someone else in the draft that might be better suited? (Bray, Wilson, Nassib?) Could they trade for Phillip Rivers? Who knows, but I do hope they bring in some competition, because Colt McCoy and Thad aren't going to be the future of that franchise.

If they draft a QB next season, it better be a home run pick. I don't know there is such a guy coming up.

Other than that, they've got a whole teams worth of problems they can address until there is a QB available.

Eh, I don't like any of those guys you named. I think this coach will know he has more time than the last and be able to spend time developing a QB from the draft. Picking a young guy with a big arm in the mid to late 1st after a trade back would be ideal. Only 6 picks in the draft, so they will need to get some more. I do kind of wonder if there will be a player that entices a good team to pull another Julio Jones type of deal. The new organization desperately needs more picks to build depth and develop new players. The team is also very young and could use some veteran talent around to help them develop. Lots of options, and lots of money to spend, so I'm hopeful they can make something good happen in a couple years.

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Life is too important to be taken seriously. -Oscar Wilde

Eh, I don't like any of those guys you named. I think this coach will know he has more time than the last and be able to spend time developing a QB from the draft. Picking a young guy with a big arm in the mid to late 1st after a trade back would be ideal. Only 6 picks in the draft, so they will need to get some more. I do kind of wonder if there will be a player that entices a good team to pull another Julio Jones type of deal. The new organization desperately needs more picks to build depth and develop new players. The team is also very young and could use some veteran talent around to help them develop. Lots of options, and lots of money to spend, so I'm hopeful they can make something good happen in a couple years.

Again, not everyone is Aaron Rogers, just because you draft a guy & "develop" him doesn't mean he's a franchise player. If they do pick that guy, they have to "feel" he could be, that's all I'm saying.

Even though it's a new organization, the last one gambled too many times on QBs they drafted & they are no better for it.

Again, not everyone is Aaron Rogers, just because you draft a guy & "develop" him doesn't mean he's a franchise player. If they do pick that guy, they have to "feel" he could be, that's all I'm saying.

Even though it's a new organization, the last one gambled too many times on QBs they drafted & they are no better for it.

What? Where did I say I want Aaron Rodgers? I don't like the few guys you named because we already know enough about them to know they will not be franchise QBs any time soon. Drafting a prospect at least gives the chance of developing a guy into a franchise QB, which is better than the zero chance you get with Campbell, Kolb or Yates. Bray, Wilson, Nassib, whoever in the draft could fit the new system, and they can pick whoever they think is the best. They have an early enough pick to do so, but I would like them to trade back a bit and at least pick up a 2nd round pick or more. QB obviously isn't the only need, but it's the most difficult to fill.

I'd say the other team needs in no particular order are QB, pass rushing DE x2 (assuming they stay in a 4-3, otherwise this becomes OLB in 3-4), OLB regardless of scheme, LG, TE, S, #2 CB, 3rd down RB, and depth everywhere, especially at LB. You can't fill all these needs with 6 draft picks, but 40 million bucks in free agency could help a lot. It will be interesting to see what they do, because they will be forced to spend a lot of money in free agency.

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Life is too important to be taken seriously. -Oscar Wilde

What? Where did I say I want Aaron Rodgers? I don't like the few guys you named because we already know enough about them to know they will not be franchise QBs any time soon. Drafting a prospect at least gives the chance of developing a guy into a franchise QB, which is better than the zero chance you get with Campbell, Kolb or Yates. Bray, Wilson, Nassib, whoever in the draft could fit the new system, and they can pick whoever they think is the best. They have an early enough pick to do so, but I would like them to trade back a bit and at least pick up a 2nd round pick or more. QB obviously isn't the only need, but it's the most difficult to fill.

I'm just using Rogers because he's the guy most people use when suggesting to draft a guy & let him sit, or develop.

Zero chance with the guys I mentioned, I know. But Clevelands drafted a QB how many times in the last 5 years & it's not working for them. All I'm saying is if they draft a QB, it can't be another Quin, McCoy, or Weeden in hopes that they can do with this new guy what they couldn't do with those guys.

I'm just using Rogers because he's the guy most people use when suggesting to draft a guy & let him sit, or develop.

Zero chance with the guys I mentioned, I know. But Clevelands drafted a QB how many times in the last 5 years & it's not working for them. All I'm saying is if they draft a QB, it can't be another Quin, McCoy, or Weeden in hopes that they can do with this new guy what they couldn't do with those guys.

Yeah, well you can't limit the new GM/HC's decisions based on previous ones that they had nothing to do with them. They need to be able to evaluate the talent in FA and the draft and do what they think is best. A great QB can completely transform a team and attract new talent to the organization, so I would love to see them get young stud QB in the draft.

They have to address the QB position this year, because Weeden's days are numbered in Cleveland. He's simply not mobile enough to run Chud's type of offense, unless of course he wants to pull out all of the QB draws and run fakes that he had Cam running. His run-game is somewhat dependent on having a dual-threat QB, and Weeden isn't that kind of guy at all, he's less mobile than Schaub. They need a guy like Colin Kaepernick, RG3 or Cam Newton, which is even more saddening that the Browns didn't get RG3 last year because he's perfect for this offense.

On the bright side, they do have several good pieces to run this offense, starting with a great LT and C for pass protection and run blocking, and then some speedy WRs to stretch the D, and TRich who's clearly an awesome RB and will do well in this offense. An upgrade at LG, TE and RB#2 would go a long ways to make any QB in this system successful. So there's hope!

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Life is too important to be taken seriously. -Oscar Wilde

Yeah, well you can't limit the new GM/HC's decisions based on previous ones that they had nothing to do with them. They need to be able to evaluate the talent in FA and the draft and do what they think is best. A great QB can completely transform a team and attract new talent to the organization, so I would love to see them get young stud QB in the draft.

Do you see that young stud in this draft?

I don't know, I don't watch college football. I'm not saying anything different than you. If there's a Dalton, Wilson, Cutler, or someone who can reasonably be expected to be that guy they should do it.

All I'm saying is instead of taking a chance on a Weeden, McCoy, Quin, or Frye, they would be better off if they passed.

Eh, don't know that I like this hire. The Browns have a losing franchise and I would have preferred a big name to change the organizations mentality. Of course, if the name is big enough, why would he want to work for the Browns? Good luck Chud, you'll need it.

I don't know, I don't watch college football. I'm not saying anything different than you. If there's a Dalton, Wilson, Cutler, or someone who can reasonably be expected to be that guy they should do it.

All I'm saying is instead of taking a chance on a Weeden, McCoy, Quin, or Frye, they would be better off if they passed.

I think The guys I listed have the potential to be the guy. For the Texans I want Tyler Wilson most. For the Browns I think Geno Smith is the best fit. If the Browns can trade down to the teens and get some picks, I will be happy. Too many needs around the team to be so concerned with QB this year. Tank 2013 and get one of the better QBs there if we can't get Geno. Perfectly fine with me given the past dozen years. Even if they get Geno I would still consider tanking next year to get Clowney or Lee...

__________________
Life is too important to be taken seriously. -Oscar Wilde

I'm sure some of you will be happy to hear this guy won't be writing about the Texans for a while.

Quote:

BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns have hired TV analyst Michael Lombardi as their vice president of player personnel.

Lombardi has 22 years of pro front office experience, but he has spent the past five seasons working for the NFL Network. He previously worked for the Browns from 1987-95 under then-coach Bill Belichick. Lombardi has also worked for new Browns CEO Joe Banner in Philadelphia and the two have maintained a close relationship. Last week, Banner denied Lombardi was assisting him in the club's coaching search.

Lombardi has also worked in San Francisco and Oakland, where he spent eight seasons (1999-2007).

The Browns have been looking for a general manager or personnel director since Tom Heckert was fired following a 5-11 season. Heckert overhauled Cleveland's roster in three seasons.